There are countless individuals who are suffering from severe digestive disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) which seem to have no cure.  As if this wasn’t enough, these same individuals often times suffer from chronic acne and frequent break outs.  These individuals are told that their condition is a medical mystery and that there is no known cure.

As a result, those suffering from such conditions are forced to live a lower quality of life and often times experience worse symptoms as time goes on. 

Although this may seem like terrible news for those suffering from these conditions, there is good news.  In fact, there have been thousands of individuals who have reversed their IBS condition and have stopped their inflammatory skin conditions such as acne.  Interestingly, these people achieved this all through a proper diet.

Now, many may be skeptical that changing diet can cause such a dramatic shift in overall health.  However, after reading our post, we hope to shed some light on the subject and open your eyes to the power diet can have when battling conditions such as chronic acne and IBS.

Understanding the Gut Microbiome

More and more research is coming forth on the importance of maintaining proper gut health in order for overall optimal health.  In fact, many health experts believe that the overall health of the body begins in the gut.  Even Hippocrates, the father of natural medicine, understood thousands of years ago that health is a reflection of the gut microbiome.

Those with conditions such as IBS and chronic acne often suffer from extremely poor gut health and a gut dysbiosis.  When the gut is in a state of dysbiosis, this simply means that there is an imbalance between the bacteria present in the gut.  Typically, those with IBS often times suffer from pathogenic fungal overgrowth’s such as candida (1).

With that said, it should be mentioned that research has shown that the majority of our immune system is a reflection of the health of our gut (2).  To put it simply, those with poor gut health will almost always suffer from a weakened immune system and a possible immune deficiency.

Furthermore, researchers have found that poor gut health can cause mental health issues such as both anxiety and depression (3).  This makes sense because serotonin, the “feel good” compound, is primarily manufactured in the gut (4).  As a result, when the gut is in a state of dysbiosis, an individual will be less likely to produce necessary amounts serotonin for optimal mental health.

Poor Gut Health and IBS

By this point, you’re probably beginning to understand the importance the health of the gut has towards overall good health.  As mentioned before, if you suffer from IBS, chances are your gut is in a state of dysbiosis.  Also, those with IBS often times have high amounts of intestinal inflammation.

It’s important to understand that candida, which is likely present in those with IBS, can cause severe digestive distress in an individual.  In fact, this pathogenic fungus will actually burrow itself into the intestinal wall which creates high amounts of intestinal inflammation.  It also releases alcohol and toxic by products which can take their toll on the health of the gut and the appearance of the skin.

However, it’s not just candida that can cause digestive problems such as IBS.  Diets that contain high amounts of inflammatory foods can severely comprise the intestines.  In fact, most of the intestinal inflammation experienced by those with IBS often is a direct result of a diet containing high amounts of inflammatory foods.

How IBS can Cause Chronic Acne

Here is where things get interesting, if you suffer from a digestive disorder such as IBS, it’s highly likely that you will suffer inflammatory skin conditions such as acne.  This is because our external appearance is a reflection of our internal health.  It’s the body’s way of communicating with the individual that something is wrong internally within the body.

In fact, Traditional Chinese Medicine has been using face mapping techniques for centuries in order to discover imbalances within various organ symptoms.  Unfortunately,  chronic acne is typically a direct result of high amounts of inflammation occurring in the gut.  Once this intestinal inflammation is addressed, symptoms such as IBS and acne typically vanish.

It should be mentioned that fungal overgrowth’s in the gut such as candida can also cause inflammation of the skin and acne.  As mentioned before, candida releases over 70 different toxic byproducts.  Many of these toxic byproducts, such as gliotoxin, are extremely harsh on the liver and can actually destroy liver cells (5).  It’s well known that a poorly functioning liver can lead to conditions such as acne due to toxic blood that is not being properly filtered by the liver.

The Best Diet for Acne and IBS

In order to heal the gut and combat conditions such as acne and IBS, a proper diet must be put into health.  Unfortunately, there seems to be extreme amounts of confusion surrounding the best diet to follow in order to combat such conditions.  Many “health experts” are recommending that individuals simply need to consume more “fruits and vegetables” in order to recover from IBS and acne.

However, both fruits and vegetables contain both extremely high amounts of anti-nutrients and sugar (fructose).  Anti-nutrients can cause severe intestinal inflammation and often times will make an IBS condition much worse.  In fact, consuming a diet high in plant foods containing anti-nutrients is most likely what caused the intestinal inflammation and IBS in the first place!

Also, sugars that are present in all modern day fruits can feed fungal pathogens such as candida.  As a result, eating lots of fruits can be disastrous for anyone suffering with both IBS and acne.

Due to the surrounding confusion around diet, we created our Diet Protocol Page which outlines the best diet to follow for those with digestive disorders such as IBS. 

In short, the diet should be based around high quality organic animal foods and small amounts of well cooked vegetables and seasonal non-hybridized fruits.  Again, a detail explanation and all the information you need can be found on our Diet Protocol Page.

Cook Anti-Inflammatory Meals

As well as following a correct diet, it’s important that you can come home to delicious meals that both taste good and are good for conditions such as IBS.  We understand the difficultly involved in sticking to a new style of eating.  It’s for this reason that we created our Intestinal Health Cookbook.

This cook book contains over 20 different mouthwatering recipes that will leave you full and satiated.  We designed this cook book specifically for those with digestive issues such as IBS.  We highly recommend it to anyone just starting out in eating an IBS friendly diet.

Remove all Forms of Sugar From Diet

If you suffer from IBS and acne, is imperative that you remove all forms of sugar from the diet.  Sugar is naturally inflammatory to both the gut and the entire body.  In fact, sugar was never designed to be part of a healthy human body.

Interestingly, the body will actually use its own mineral reserves in order to deal with the toxic effects sugar has on the body.  As a result, it’s not uncommon for individuals to develop several different mineral deficiencies when following a diet high in sugar.  This is bad news for acne sufferers because minerals such as zinc are crucial for preventing the flare ups of acne (6).

Furthermore, sugar feeds pathogenic bacteria, yeast, and fungus in the gut.  As mentioned before, fungus such as candida can contribute significantly to conditions such as acne.  This fungus can also make conditions such as IBS much worse.

If you must have sugar, we highly recommend that you use a raw local honey.  Despite being a sugar, raw honey is extremely soothing to the intestines.  In fact, it has been used for centuries in order to treat stomach discomfort and digestive disorders.

This is mainly because raw honey contains powerful anti-microbial and anti-fungal properties.  Unlike sugar which will feed pathogens in the gut, raw honey will actually help inhibit their growth.  Research has shown that raw honey can inhibit the growth of several different species of candida (7).  This is great news for those with conditions such as IBS and acne as raw honey can actually help these conditions.

As with anything, moderation is key.  Always start with small amounts of raw honey and work your way up.  More is not necessarily better when it comes to powerful foods such as raw honey.